Solidarity?

Chapter Nine

March 4, 2005

(MOO)

"Oh, Richard?" Beatrice looked up as he walked through the door. Richard didn't blink, didn't flinch, or even smile. He just stood in his doorway and watched her with his strong, unwavering, and slightly shocked gaze. She was seated at his kitchen table, a sheet of paper in her hand… and silent tears streaming down her face.

That was what stuck him down the most. Beatrice never cried.

"Bea…" He asked after a while, approaching the girl carefully. Who knew what could happen in her current state? After all, Richard had just discovered she was part demon.

"What's wrong…?" Richard couldn't help himself; although he was angry an, frustrated and thoroughly pissed off, seeing Beatrice in tears like that made his chest tighten painfully. He never wanted her to feel any sort of sadness or hurt. He wanted her to be happy and content; to smile at him and laugh, not to sit in the darkness and cry.

"I went to class today…" She responded carefully, after taking in a very slow, shaky breath. "But my tuition was terminated because I haven't been able to pay since I lost that last internship." She turned and looked out the window, new tears inching into her vision. "I can't pay my tuition without my internships… and I can't get my internships without my schooling…" Beatrice let her head fall into her arms as more tears fell down her face. "I have no job and no school… Richard, what am I going to do?"

Richard didn't even hesitate. His arms went around her instantly, and his hold on her waist tight and comforting in every way. "Bea…" he whispered, gathering her into his lap. He nuzzled his face into her hair as her body shook with even more silent tears.

His anger was quickly beginning to fade as he continued to cradle this slight woman. He had felt so infuriated at the fact that Beatrice had been hiding secrets from him, that he never really thought about her like a normal person. Yes, she was a superheroine and his lover… but she was just trying to make it like everyone else on this sorry planet. This must have been hard for her; there was no doubt about it.

"Bea…" Richard cooed softly into her ear, "it's okay. Everything will work out; we'll work it out together." He kissed the top of her head, trying very hard to calm her down into reason. Beatrice was obviously very disturbed by this news, and Richard wanted to do everything in his power to make it alright. It wasn't fair for her to suffer.

She took another, slow shaky breath, burying her face deeper into his warm chest. She found comfort in his arms, as strange as it may seem to her; she found a sense of completion in his embrace. "Thank you, Richard… for everything," She murmured, her voice vibrating against his breastbone.

"Bea… I…" Richard stopped speaking after a struggled moment, and settled for softly stroking her hair in silence. He was going to say he loved her, and that he wanted her to stay with him, but he couldn't. He couldn't tell her that, not after she had confessed she was afraid of falling in love with him. It would complicate things far too much… and Richard wasn't sure if he was ready to lose Beatrice over a stupid thing like complication.

"Richard… what's this?"

There was a heavy pause as Richard turned to look into Beatrice's hand, and found her delicate fingers twisted around the exotic, blue fabric of the mask. It was Raven's mask. Her mask. And it had come loose from his coat pocket.

There was a long, heavy pause as Beatrice began to realize exactly what that scrap of intricately weaved material was. "Where did you get this?" she stood up quickly and pulled away from his warm embrace, her gaze turning heavy and cold in a split second. It always amazed him how she was able to shift moods so completely and so quickly… and it made him fear for his life.

"Bea, I-"

"Where did you get this?" She repeated icily, pulling farther away from him.

"You dropped it…" He paused for a moment, and watched as the color drain from her face the instant he said the word. It was the one word Beatrice was most afraid of.

"Raven."

She stood there, face as pale as the snow falling outside, eyes wide and bright like a winter's moon… She watched him carefully, trying to decipher his every move, every twitch, everything. And then it hit her. Hard.

"Robin…" She whispered softly, her eyes going wider and her face suddenly burning a bright red. She watched him with slight wonder and astonishment, and there was a beautifully blissful moment when the world was silent and Beatrice was in awe at what had transpired.

And then all hell broke loose.

Beatrice jumped forward and tackled him right off the chair. The two of them went tumbling, body over body, across his dirty, old floor until she finally managed to throw her weight around enough to pin him to the floor with her body.

"YOU BASTARD!" Beatrice cried, white-hot eyes boring into the man beneath her. Her knees bit into his thighs tightly and her elbows were wedged into his collarbone placing him in an unrelenting bind. Normally, Richard would have found this particular position highly arousing, but Beatrice could truly hold her own when she really wanted to. Not to mention her hefty right hook.

"How long have you known? Who have you told?" She cried, spurting out harsh, accusing questions at the man beneath her. Beatrice couldn't help herself; she felt nothing but utter fury and contempt towards him. He had discovered her deepest, darkest secret, and undoubtedly exploited her already to one of his "friends"; those other, pathetic excuses for superheroes. Her entire existence was now in jeopardy because of him. Because of a stupid, pompous, overbearing, powerless, masked superhero. She had lost her identity to him.

Richard could only lay there and stare in at her in shock for a moment. This was obviously not going as planned. It was supposed to be a sweet little: 'I love you! I know who you are, and it's okay!' deal. That wasn't happening… at all. He watched her anger contorted face for a few more seconds before absolute anger and frustration over took him as well. In one swift, powerful movement he rolled over and pinned her to the floor just as she had done to him. He pressed his face close to hers, eyes unblinking at they dived deep within her own, sparking ones.

"I didn't tell anyone! And I just found out today, so back off Ice Princess!" he hissed quickly, grabbing the mask from her fingers. He held it in front of her face for emphasis. "I came back to tell you that I knew who you were and that everything was going to be okay, but if you're gonna be a bitch about it…" He trailed off as Beatrice's eyes suddenly flashed brighter. Perhaps he shouldn't have used that particular word.

"Well, if you're gonna be a bastard!" She snapped sharply and loudly before she brought her knee up quickly to slam it firmly in between Richard's parted legs. He curled up instantly, falling from his position to the floor and glaring up at her with sudden, burning anger. Beatrice returned the gaze before she stood up and walked out of the room without another word.

"Hey! Where are you going!" Richard cried, forcing himself to his feet and slowly chasing after her. That girl could pack a serious punch when she wanted to; he was certainly in pain if that was her intent. "I'm not done with you yet!"

"Well!" Beatrice whirled around to glare at him. They stood on the landing, their apartments open for all to see, and their conversation loud enough for all to hear. Neither one could even care an inkling at the moment. They were both blinded by white, hot, burning anger that welled up from some unknown depth. From some place that they never knew they had.

"I'm finished with you!" She walked into her own apartment and slammed the door in his face. Unfortunately for her, it took Richard less than thirty seconds to pick the lock, and it took just a few more seconds before Beatrice was facing him again. She was infuriated. Everything she tried to do to avoid him was becoming futile; he had an iron will and he would not be pushed aside so easily.

"Beatrice!" Richard cried, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a slight shake. Why wasn't she even trying to listen to him? It felt like he was just talking to a brick wall, and nothing he was saying was going through her brain. It didn't matter that she was part demon. It didn't matter that she was Raven. All that mattered was the two of them overcoming this together.

She threw his arms off her and glared coldly as he continued to speak. "I don't want us to fight about this, it's stupid!"

"And what's stupid about it?" Beatrice hissed, crossing her arms over her chest and snapping around to glare out the window. She couldn't face him without feeling an intense, demonic urge to murder him right then and there. "What's stupid about the fact that you know not only who I am, but what I am? It's not some trivial piece of information, it's the secret of my soul. It is the darkest, most vile part of me, and you know all about it." Her voice grew freezing cold and her lips pressed into a thin line. She knew he must have figured it our by now; she wasn't normal, nor would she ever be. One foot in the human world and the other foot in another world; she was only half. Half of one thing, and half of another… and a whole of nothing.

"Beatrice… Raven… It doesn't matter to me that you're a demon," Richard whispered, walking around her so she faced him. He looked deeply in her eyes for a moment, seeing complete pain and frustration there. She was lost, without anywhere to go; and he had been her one rock to cling too. He really screwed things over this time. He had betrayed her trust, put her secrets in danger, and was jeopardizing her as a person. There was little reason for Beatrice not to be angry with him.

"It matters, Richard, I can see it in your eyes. You're afraid of me." She replied softly, her eyes falling away from his gaze. She looked towards the floor before he tilted her chin up to see her beautiful eyes.

"Yes," He replied truthfully, "But I'm only afraid right now because I think that you might walk out that door and never come back. It doesn't matter about 'what' you are Beatrice, because I'm in love with you… with Beatrice; with Raven; with your demon half; with your human half… Beatrice, I love you. All of you. The halves you see so plainly, and whole you have yet to discover. I love you." He leaned down and kissed her quickly and deeply before she had a chance to reply. He knew the words would have struck home with her, and that's what he wanted. He wanted Beatrice to realize that he loved every miniscule part of her; that titles and powers didn't matter. His feelings remained unchanged through the whole ordeal.

"Richard…" She murmured as he pulled away from her. She felt a sudden wave of helplessness and frailty come over her. She was indebted to this man; loved this man; and he was only serving to complicate things by telling her he loved her. "Please, don't say that… loving me will only complicate everything." Beatrice turned away from him. She looked out the window, seeing a brick wall turning darker due to the fading light. "I'm not a person you want to love."

Richard wasn't one to give up easily. His anger and fury were quickly dwindling into cold, dark ashes, and he pulled Beatrice back within his arms. He cradled her for a moment, feeling her own frustration ebb away into nothingness. A cold, comforting silence surrounded them, and nothing was said for a few long minutes.

"I know you don't want to say it," Richard stated after the fury had fallen, "but you love me, Beatrice. I know you do, I can feel it within me every time I hold you or look at you. Please, don't turn away from me. We can make this work…" He stroked her hair for a few more minutes, feeling tension start to grow again. There was something that Beatrice had to tell him, something important.

"It's not just love I owe you, Robin. I owe you my life." Beatrice spoke bluntly, and frankly without ever turning to look at him. Her voice was quiet and shy, revealing far more of her emotions than she would have liked, but it had to be said. She owed everything to Robin, to Richard. He saved her life in her greatest time of need.

Richard stilled for a moment, and then looked down at the top of her head in slight confusion. What in God's name was she talking about? He really hoped that it wasn't some bizarre, demonic ritual she was going to describe. He wasn't sure if he was ready to commit himself that much just yet. "Why do you owe me your life?"

She turned her face upward and looked into his eyes deeply, trying to read all of his expressions in the dim light. "Robin," She said, calling him by his alias, "A few months ago you found a young woman in an ally way and saved her from the worst fate of rape. You took care of her and made sure she was safe…" She let the sentence drift off and snuggled close to him, suddenly feeling a sense of warm security wash over her.

"Bea… that was you?"

"Yes."

Richard felt a sense of complete and utter hatred for those two thugs. It cracked upon him painfully and he wanted to cry with anguish. He had nearly lost everything to evil. Pure, unadulterated, human evil. He suddenly felt nauseous.

"I have to sit down…" He plopped down on her bed and stared at the floor, trying to regain his sense of self. He had nearly lost Beatrice. If he had been a few seconds late, or taken a different route home, he could have really lost her; he could have never even met her.

It was odd to him suddenly. He spent his whole life protecting the weak and all that jazz, but he never had a chance to look at the faces. He never stopped to think about who he was saving and why. It was a natural impulse within him to save someone. And now, after finding out that Beatrice had been so close to demise, he couldn't help but think about her face, and the faces of all the others. He saved people because of their faces; because they had souls and futures.

"Robin?" Beatrice crawled on the bed next to him and lay her head in his lap. Knowing he was understanding the weight of what happened. This was no trivial matter, and it was important to both of them. "Don't be upset, I'm safe now. I'm safe now and that's all that matters. I'm safe because of you, because of what you did. And not only that, but if you didn't save me, I would have never been compelled to use my powers to help other people… Robin, you saved me. From more than just rape."

He looked down at the beauty in his lap and let a smile split his lips as his fingers threaded through her silky hair. He watched her for a moment before he made a final decision on what to say. "I guess I did. But that doesn't mean you owe me anything, Bea… I only ask that you love me."

She felt her face flush brightly and she sat up. Her eyes locked with his and examined their depths carefully before proposing anything more to him. "Are you willing to take the evil that comes with me? I am a demon, Robin… nothing mystical and ambiguous. I am an evil being."

"Whoever told you that has obviously never kissed you," he teased gently before leaning forward and capturing her in a heated kiss. His fingers tunneled through her hair as serenity and completion filled his soul. He loved her, and nothing would change that; not demons, not humans, and nothing in between the two. He broke away for a quick moment to gaze deeply into her eyes, hoping to find his confirmation there. "I am willing to take the good with the bad, because I love you."

Beatrice blushed slightly and said nothing more. She just leaned in for another, long kiss…

(MOO)

"I think…" Richard mumbled as he woke to the sound of food being tossed into a heated frying pan, "… that I should spend the night at your place more often. Your curtains keep out that stupid thing called 'dawn'."

"Is that so?" a husky, feminine voice called back to him. "You know," She stated conversationally, "you can get curtains pretty cheap at a supermarket." She couldn't help the teasing smile that spread across her lips.

"Perhaps." Richard rolled over on his stomach and pulled the covers over his bare back. "But then that defeats the whole purpose of me spending the night with you." He paused for a moment as his hands groped deftly through the covers to find no one there. Letting out a sigh of frustration he picked his face out of the pillow. "Forget breakfast and come back to bed, Bea."

A delicate snort was his initial reply. "It's nearly eleven o'clock, Richard. I hardly think this qualifies as breakfast," Beatrice stated realistically. "Besides, you're going to sleep the day away if you stay in bed any longer."

"So what if I do?" He replied teasingly, with a playful smirk on his lips. "It's your fault I'm so tired. You kept me pretty damn busy last night." He felt, rather than saw, the bright red color that crept over Beatrice's face.

However, he wasn't expecting a plastic spatula to come flying his way. He bolted up in bed and glared at the small space in the curtains. Growling playfully he crawled to his feet and walked out into the "kitchen". Beatrice stood next to the counter, watching him with a smug smile on her face. Richard couldn't help but feel a sort of pride at watching her stand there, dressed in nothing but his shirt and her underwear. She watched him playfully as he approached her with the projectile she flung at him.

"I think you dropped this," he said, handing her the spatula.

"Nice to know you're awake." She smiled slightly and leaned up for a kiss, which he eagerly granted. Beatrice smiled again as he pulled away. "Breakfast is ready."

"Oh," Richard responded, an evil smile peeling across his face as he looked at the dark beauty. "I know it is." With that he turned off the stove, gathered her into his arms and headed back for her bed.

"Richard!" She cried, laughing as he dumped her unceremoniously onto her bed and collected her beneath him. He bent down and kissed her deeply before drawing the curtains tightly around them. He kissed her once more before he wrapped her underneath the heavy, warm covers and tightly into his arms.

"It's time for a nap," Richard murmured into her ear as his eyes grew heavy. "And I just can't fall asleep without my favorite stuffed animal." He kissed her neck softly before allowing his head to fall back onto the pillow.

"You're lucky I love you, otherwise I would have injured you by now," Beatrice huffed out in mock-indigence. Richard was completely unfazed, and a small smile teased his lips again.

"Yes… I am lucky that you love me…" He kissed her neck again before dozing off…

…only to be reawaken by his cell phone.

"Damnit…" Richard grumbled, irritated by the unwelcome noise. He sat up and grabbed his pants at the end of the bed to pull out the damn object. Rolling his eyes as the caller-ID, he flipped it open to begin a conversation.

"This had better be good, I was taking a nap," he stated irritably. Beatrice continued to lay there, but watched him intently from her current position on the pillow.

"I'm only calling to see how things went last night." Bruce seemed genuinely interested, and a hint of teasing was audible in his tone. "Besides, it's almost eleven, what are you still doing in bed?"

"I'm enjoying myself. Now, can I get back to sleep…?" he grumbled slightly frustrated at being detained.

"So, I'm supposing that Raven knows all about Robin then, am I correct?" Bruce seemed very cocky as he placed this question before his ward.

"Yes…" There was a pause. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, nothing… I was just wondering if you and your lady friend would live to visit for a day or two."

So that was it. Damn, cheeky bastard.

"You want to drag her into our search, don't you?" He glanced back at Beatrice, who was watching him with sudden interest. There were new questions sparkling in her eyes, and he didn't have the heart to tell her quite yet.

There was a pause, followed by chuckling, and Richard could almost swear that he could hear the cocky smile on his benefactor's face.

"You're very shrewd for someone your age, Dick."

"I'm taught by the best."

Another string of laughter. "I'm inviting the both of you over for this weekend, there we can decide what we should do about our search."

Richard sighed and turned to Beatrice, who was now sitting up and looking at him inquisitively. "Do you want to go somewhere this weekend, Bea?"

"Maybe," She replied, looking at him strangely. "Where to?"

"My benefactor's house."

She watched him curiously for a moment, and Richard began to realize the Beatrice only knew bits and pieces of his past. And a benefactor was not one of the pieces he told her. This weekend would be a good a time as any.

"If you want to go," She said calmly, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"Yeah," Richard said as he turned back to the phone. "We'll be there in a few hours, okay?"

"I'll be eagerly awaiting your arrival."

(MOO)

Incase you haven't noticed, FFnet is being anal about my prefered page breaks, so I have now subsituted them for ones that look like this: (MOO) Not my fault. Blame the administation for being a stupid butt.

So… That's it! That's Chapter Nine! I know it's nothing extraordinarily exciting, but I hope it lived up to your standards of the Bea/Richard fight-and-kiss scene. Okay… so I really don't have anything to say… except that I'm sorry it's taking so darn long to get out. I really wish I had more time to devote myself to this story, but I don't.

Also, I really don't have a lot of chapters in this story left, and don't expect and ending that makes sense. I'm trying to make this be like a prequel to the Teen Titans show, so there is not going to be a definite ending. It'll just sort of stop one day… so PLEASE don't kill me when that day comes.

That's about it… oh yeah! If you haven't read Fall From the Ninth Circle I am now shamelessly plugging it. It is my new Raven/Robin story and I am having a gay old time with it… or something like that.

And I am here to once again plug my website and the link can be found on my profile page. Just in case you are wondering, or anything.

PLEASE REVIEW!

Lots of Love: Xaph!